Montreal mayor urges citizens to stop taking selfies with coyotes

According to Montreal officials, getting rid of coyotes is not an option, but getting rid of taking selfies with coyotes, is.

After dealing with three coyote bites in the past week, the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough of Montreal says that coyotes have been around for 40 years and getting rid of the wild canines will only cause for returns in greater numbers because the animals are territorial and can move quickly.

Coyotes also play a pivotal role in Montreal’s ecosystem because the predators eat squirrels, groundhogs, mice and rats.

Various actions have been put into place to avoid more coyote attacks such as setting up a coyote sighting hot-line and implementing a curfew for coyote-bound parks once the sun goes down.

According to Mayor Valérie Plante, 17 coyotes have been caught in the span of a year on the island of Montreal.

On Tuesday, the mayor took to Twitter to give the citizens of Montreal some sound advice on how to avoid coyote attacks:

Je rappelle qu’en aucun cas, il ne faut tente d’approcher un coyote pour le nourrir, l’abreuver, ou prendre un selfie! Nous prenons cette situation très au sérieux et assurons le meilleur suivi en fonction des avis des meilleurs experts. #polmtl

— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) August 1, 2018

She called for Montrealers to avoid feeding, petting and taking selfies with coyotes.

Feeding wild animals has become too common in attempts to get closer to them in order to take pictures to post on social media.

Usually, taking pictures with animal predators is not the smartest idea, regardless of how many Instagram likes one might receive.

Projet Montreal announced that they are currently working with the Quebec Forest Ministry to set up cameras and traps in parks where coyotes have been sighted in order to keep park-goers safe.

Until then, use your phones to notify officials if you spot a coyote, not take a selfie with it.

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